Coming Back Down
by Jigmyster
Summary: 18-year-old Hayley is alone in the zombie apocalypse, until she discovers four strangers and fights by their side to reach the evacuation point before it's too late.
1. Meet The Team

**NOTE: The idea for this story came from xconversegirl99x's story "Another Way Out", please head over and read it, because it's a great read! Although most of this writing is my own, I credit all my ideas to her.**

The meat eaters surrounded the house; trying to bang down the door where I'd taken shelter. What were these things? And why were they trying to bite me? I'd been running here for three days straight and encountered a few of these creatures, but never had a chance to see them up close.

I looked outside the glass on the door, studying them closely. They had flaky skin with green flesh in certain spots; dark circles were under their dull red eyes and small yellow teeth showed in their mouth, making them look like my grandparents when they smoked. They seemed to live for one purpose only; kill the living. I shook my head. _I have to keep running_ , I though to myself, _there has to be someone who can help me!_ Grabbing a knife on the kitchen table and going through the back door quietly, I ran towards a sign reading 'Welcome to Georgia' and sighed in relief. Maybe someone here could help.

Running through the empty streets, I looked around at the cars that had been left behind. They were packed and ready to go, but I guessed that plans changed when the meat eaters arrived. I noticed, however, that one car had people inside of it. Inside the boot was a large, dark toned man in a purple coaches shirt and brown sweatpants. He held a large rifle in his hand, with a strange bottle on his belt. Another man was under the bonnet, trying to fix the car. He had a light tan complexion and a tight yellow t-shirt with dark blue work pants. A blue hat with an image of a tow truck sat on his head and he grabbed the hat with frustration. I'd say the car was beyond repair.

A dark toned woman then came from the side of the car. She had large, golden-hooped earrings and wore a pink Depeche Mode t-shirt with black jeans. An axe was strapped to her back and she held two small pistols. Lastly, another lightly tanned man came from the drivers seat and stood next to the woman. He wore a flash, white suit with a blue shirt underneath, top button undone to allow small, black chest hairs to show. He looked up then and noticed I was standing there. Pulling out a large shotgun, he warned the others about me and loaded his gun. I placed my knife on the ground and put my arms in the air, in an attempt to show I wasn't a threat.

"Whoa, d-d-don't shoot! I'm not one of those things… w-whatever they a-are." I stuttered, shaking like a wet dog when it dries itself.

"You don't know what those things are?" The man in the suit said silently, lowering his gun and walking towards me. I lowered my arms slowly.

"Yeah. I've been running for a few days to find help, all the towns along the way have been cleaned out."

"Wow, that's mighty impressive! Those thangs are scary." The man with the hat chuckled, and I picked up a southern accent in his voice.

"Thanks. So anyway, what are those things?" The group looked between themselves, ready to break the news to me.

"They're… zombies. People started feeling ill and the hospitals started to flood with the sick and hurt. Nobody knew what was happening until people started going crazy. Evacuations have started to remove the healthy, but they only stay for a day or two and then leave." The large man spoke, looking to the ground. I couldn't believe this was happening. Were we really in a zombie apocalypse?

"Where are you guys heading?" I looked up and said. Maybe I could stick with these people. They were better than nothing.

"We were trying to find the evacuation point. These radios told us to head to the hotel rooftop and there'd be a helicopter waiting." The woman smiled, holding up her radio to show me. "Would you like to join us, sweetie?"

I spoked quickly in relief, "Yes please! That would be fantas-"

"Hold up!" The suited man interrupted, "We don't even know you're name. How can we trust you to come with us?"

"I'm Hayley, and quite frankly, I don't have a reason to hurt you people. You can trust me."

"That's 'nough for me! And Ellis, the name's Ellis." The man in the hat said, shaking my hand roughly. I laughed and patted his shoulder.

"It's nice to meet you, Ellis."

"My name's Darnell, but my friends call me Coach. Guess y'all can do the same." The large dark man said, patting my back.

"And I'm Rochelle. It's nice to meet you too." The woman smiled. Looking back at the man in the suit, he sighed.

"The name's Nick. Welcome to the team kid." I shrieked, embracing him in a hug.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you! You won't regret this, I mean it!"

"Yeah, yeah, just stay away from me." Nick grunted, shoving me off him. I shrugged and sat in the car, asking what our plan was.

"I guess we should head for the hotel. Don't want 'em leaving without us." Ellis said, starting to jog away.

"I'm with the man, let's go!" I shouted, following quickly behind.

As we ran towards the hotel, I looked around at the new group I had joined. Coach was a very straightforward thinker and had some great ideas. Rochelle was sweet, almost motherly, and seemed to care about everybody deeply. Ellis was funny and seemed to be a bit thick sometimes, but he made up for it in his bubbly personality. Nick would take some getting used to, as he was a bit of an arse. But I liked that about him, because he takes no crap from nobody.

Pushing through the large doors, we made our way up twenty floors to make it to the roof.

"Shiiiit, I'm stuffed! Can we take a break?" Coach puffed, holding his knees.

"Come on Coach, maybe the helicopter, maybe it's made of chocolate!" Nick laughed, getting a smirk from Coach. As we broke through the door, a sight made us all sigh.

"No fucking way…"


	2. Why So Hot?

**A/N: Hey guys! Here's chapter 2, thank you to everyone who read the first chapter! I wasn't expecting so many views. Anyway, enjoy. Chapter 3 won't be far behind.**

"Come back!" Coach yelled out, waving his arms in the air. The disappointment on his face was saddening and everyone was at a loss for words, including me.

"This can't be happening… this can't be happening… this can't be happening…" Rochelle, on the verge of tears, was chanting over and over. We'd been so close to the helicopter, but they must have been tired of waiting and left just as we'd arrived. In the distance, we could see them flying away.

"I thought they were supposed to be saving our arses!" Coach said, angrily fisting the air.

"Looks like there's been a change of plans." Nick held his knees and looked towards the helicopter, squinting through the bright sunlight. I looked towards a table we'd passed against the wall. On it were three health kits, as well as four dual pistols, an axe and a crowbar. I picked up a pistol, chucking it to Ellis.

"Well, we can't give up! Were there any more evacuation places you were told about on your radios?" I asked Rochelle, passing her a health kit and the remaining pistols.

"No. They knew how close we were, so that's all the information we had. Guess they thought we were closer than 'close.'" She shook her heading, beginning to cry.

"Y'know, there's a gun store not far from here. We could head there and grab some better weapons." Ellis piped up, smiling at the bright idea he'd had.

"Ellis, that's great! If we head there, we might be able to find another evacuation point as well!" I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the door as the others grabbed the remaining axe and crowbar. Rochelle and Coach shook their heads in laughter, while Nick grunted at how naïve I was. As we started to head down the stairs, Rochelle sniffed the air.

"Is that smoke?" She asked us, opening the door to the top floor of the hotel.

"Yeah, I can smell it too. We better hurry." Nick led the way, as we cut through a hotel room, unable to head straight through the hallway because of a fire. Having no other choice, we climbed onto the ledge outside.

"Stay close everyone, and be careful. It's a long drop." I gulped, looking down at the many floors to drop if I fell. We sidestepped slowly but surely and eventually made it to the other side of the hall, entering by a broken window. Although it had been a few days since the apocalypse started, this hotel wasn't in great shape. Paint was peeling on most of the walls, the rugged floor was torn in many places, pictures on the wall hung crooked, the vending machines were completely empty and every hotel room was open. In one of the rooms I'd opened, I found a bottle of pills and a strange device with a light connected to it. It almost looked like a bomb made out of pipe. Showing the others, we all were clueless and decided to hold onto it. It could come in handy. As we headed outside the room, a strange noise came from down the hallway.

"Uhm, what the hell was that?" Nick chuckled nervously, looking around to find the source of the noise. It sounded like a sick cow, low and crackly. That's when we found what it was.

"MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!" Jumping towards Nick, I pushed him towards the wall, letting the creature run straight past and go through another wall across from us. After that, he was gone.

"Thanks Hayley…now what the FUCK was that thing?!" We all shrugged, slowly moving towards another hallway blocked by fire.

"I don't know, but I think we should call it a Charger." I smirked, knowing how clever my name was.

"Seriously, you want to name it? What are you, a twelve-year-old with a new doggy?" Nick laughed, nudging my shoulder softly.

"Nick, shut up. It's so if we see it again, we can let everyone know it's coming. My new doggy needs a name to call in case he wants to bite." I poked out my tongue, laughing at Nick. He shook his head with a smile and went through an open door up ahead.

"Oh man, the Nick man just got told straight! That was a knee slapper, ha ha!" Ellis laughed, literally slapping his knees and wiping his eyes as if he were crying. Inside the room we'd entered, there was another broken window and a wide ledge to cross. We all looked at each other and nodded, making our way on to the ledge and following it the the furthest window, which was also broken. As we made our way through the hotel room, crying filled the air.

"Hayley, are ya sad that were not there yet?" Ellis frowned, twisting me around and looking at my face, very concerned. I gave him the strangest look I could.

"That ain't me man…" We all slowly turned, looking out the open door. On the other side was a skinny, almost twig-like woman sitting on the ground, facing the wall and rocking back and forth. She had long, white hair which reached her hips and was all knotted. She was sitting on her knees and had her slender hands to her face, wailing into them.

"It might be someone in trouble, I'll go speak to her." Rochelle smiled, cautiously sneaking towards her.

"Hi there sweetie, I'm not going to hurt you, okay? I just want to help." As quickly as she had put her hand on her shoulder, she took it off and walked backwards slowly. The woman began to growl, almost in an animal like tone. Coach grabbed Rochelle's arm and pulled her back, shooting wildly at the creature. She screamed at the top of her lungs, running towards us with long claws in the air. As she ran towards Coach, I jumped in front of him, taking the full force of her viscous attacked. She clawed at my stomach and left deep cuts all over, leaving blood to run through my now torn shirt.

"Ouch! Get her the fuck off me!" I screamed, pushing with all I had. In one swift motion, Nick swung his axe, cutting her head off clean. It fell off her shoulders and rolled across the floor, stopping in our direction. Her face was the most terrifying thing I had seen. She looked like an eighty-year-old in a twenty-year-olds body. Her wrinkles were very defined, yet blended well into her face and could be mistaken for fat rolls. Her headless body fell to the ground with a thud, claws digging into the carpet. As I rolled over to stand up, the room turned black and all I could hear were the faint voices of the team. I felt one of the boys pick me up, and I cuddled into their chest, wincing at the pain in my stomach. I heard a faint 'blood on your suit' and 'I don't care', and guessed it was Nick carrying me.

Nick was beginning to become nicer to everyone now, and I had to admit, he was quite cute, in a strange way. He seemed to care about us, but didn't show it openly. Who knows, maybe after this is all over, we could get to know each other? I'd love to spend more time with him when we actually smell half-decent and not being chased by flesh-hungry monsters. After that thought raced through my head, I was out cold.

 _"_ _Hayley, hellooo?" I shook my head, looking towards the voice. It was Ben, my older brother. He was waving a hand to me with a confused look on his face._

 _"_ _Sorry, I'm a bit out of it." He laughed, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards Mel, my younger sister._

 _"_ _Are you ready for the greatest prank of all time?" Mel smirked, holding up the stereo she'd bought with her, setting it to track three._

 _"_ _Oh hell yeah!" I shouted, putting my fist into the centre for a fist bump. Ben bumped it with his own fist and we climbed onto the stage._

 _"_ _Aunt Phoebe," I started to speak, smiling sweetly, "We have a nice song to sing about you, we hope you like it!" She smiled at us, trying to show she was interested. Mel hit 'play' and the beginning of 'You're Beautiful' started to play, until the song changed and I began to sing._

 _"_ _Bitches I hope you know! Bitches I hope you know! Bitches I hope you know I won't stop 'til I hit that hoe! Baby come say hello, and get your drunk ass over here let's bone! Bitches I hope you know that I won't stop 'til I hit that h-"_

 _"_ _Get them out of my wedding! You rotten little kids!" Aunt Phoebe shouted as Mum and Dad hopped on stage and carried us out of the room, 'Bitches' still blaring out of the stereo. Dad patted my back as Mum hugged Mel from behind._

 _"_ _Nice job guys, that was fantastic!" Dad laughed, looking at all three of us._

 _"_ _Thanks Dad." I high-fived him, laughing to myself and looking at Mel and Ben. That's when someone began to shake my arm and I spun around. There was no one there, but the shaking continued. Then everything turned black._

"Hayley! Hello? Earth to strange child? Ha ha." Coach was shaking my arm while Nick was speaking to me. I opened my eyes, holding my head as I sat up. Feeling my stomach, I felt bandages wrapped around it, with a small clip securing it at the back. I looked towards Ellis as he smiled at me and held the now empty health kit.

"Oh man, thank god you're okay! We thought you'd never wake up." He said, holding out a hand to help me up. I grabbed it softly as he pulled me up slowly to make sure I was okay. Nick held my back to make sure I didn't fall over. Rochelle was sitting on the floor, studying the strange bomb we'd picked up.

"Where are we?" I looked around, noticing the room was smaller than the one we'd been in.

"We found an elevator. This leads down to the bottom floor, so we have a quicker way out of here." I sighed in relief as Coach spoke, holding the wall to get my balance. The elevator dinged as it reach floor five, floor four, three, two, and one. Smoke began to fill the elevator.

"This must be where the smoke was coming from. Stay close everyone; it's going to be hard to see. Don't breathe too hard either; the smoke will hurt if you inhale too much of it." Rochelle warned, looking at us all. We nodded, propping open the door and running outside. As we ran, three rifles were sitting on the floor. I picked them up and passed them around, keeping one for myself. Checking the barrel, I only had eight bullets. I loaded my gun and ran between the fire, struggling to see. We shot our guns back and forth as zombies ran towards us. That's when a man with a lumpy face showed up. A long tongue spat out of his mouth as he coughed loudly and it wrapped around my chest, pulling me towards him.

"Help me!" I screamed, kicking and shoving, as I got closer to the creature. With one bullet, Rochelle shot his face, bursting his flesh into the fire. His body dropped to the ground and I unwrapped the tongue, thanking Rochelle for saving me. We kept running, winding our way through to the kitchen area. Climbing over the middle bench, we wound around the corner and through a closed door. Opening it, we were faced with many flames surrounding the room.

"WHERE DO WE GO NOW?" I shouted, trying to be heard over the burning flames.

"THIS WAY!" Nick shouted back, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards an opening as the others followed behind. I ran as quickly as I could until I blacked out again, falling to the ground and hitting my jaw on the ground. Nick picked me up again and swore as he ran further past the fire. I was about to say a small thank you, until I passed out again.

I woke up slowly then, holding my jaw with my hand. We were in a fresh room that had lots of air. As I stood up Rochelle ran around the corner, holding my shoulders.

"Sweetie! Thank gosh you're okay. Nick carried you all the way to the gun store, check out these weapons." My jaw dropped to the ground, as I looked at all the guns. Labels marked them all, from SMG's to tactical shotguns, assault rifles and AK-47s. There was a large pile of ammo in the far corner, and boxes were stacked around the room, labeled with 'Fragile' and 'Dangerous Goods.'

"So, where are we heading now?" I asked, walking around the corner to join the guys. That's when I found them shaking their heads and walking back and forth.

"What's the matter?"

"It's the man on the speaker over there. He told us there's a mall not far from here, but there's no way to get to it because a truck is blocking the road, followed by a barrier. He can blow it up for us, but he made a weird request before he can do that." Nick said, looking up to me.

"What kind of request?" I furrowed my brows, wondering what he could possibly mean.

"He wants us to get him some Cola." Nick laughed.


	3. Authors Note

Hey everyone!  
Just leaving a note here to say I'm back.

(Why? Because I missed you all and wanted to finish what I started!)

Will be putting more chapters up again shortly.

Ty,

Jigmyster xxx


	4. One Moment

"Cola?!" I said confused, crossing my arms. "The damn man wants Cola?!"

"Yes, Cola. There's a supermarket across the street, and the Cola will be in six-packs at the very end of the store. Now I suggest that we split into two groups so one can protect us," Nick pointed to Rochelle and I, "while we grab the Col-"

"Now wait one cotton-pickin', dummy-spittin' minute!" Ellis butted in, stomping his foot on the floor. "We ain't prepared for this shit! What if something goes wrong? Who's gonna give the man his Cola? Where do you give him the Cola? What even is Cola?! I don't know anymore!" Sitting on the floor, Ellis pouted and looked around at all of us, showing he was clearly in need of a rest. Rolling my eyes, I spoke up.

"Alright, Ellis, why don't you stay outside the store with someone? There must be a spot where this man is living, so we'll find it and you can pass him the Col - uh, drink carton, okay?" He nodded cheerfully, standing up and wiping his butt of dust from the floor.

"Well, sure!" He smiled and nodded. "Coach can stay with me!" He looked over at Coach, waiting for a response. After hesitating for a moment, he finally gave in.

"Okay, okay, I'll stay with you. But you guys better hurry, 'cause I wanna get out of here - and fast." Rochelle nodded to Coach and walked over to the speaker, pressing the button before speaking.

"Uh hello?" She spoke, "Can you please tell us where to put the Cola? We're ready."

 _"_ _Alright fellas, you know the drill. Go get the Cola and come back to the gun store, there will be a door just outside there with an open hatch. Drop it in there, and that truck will be blown up. Good luck."_

Rochelle released the button and looked to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "You ready for this sweetie?"

"Ready as I'll ever be. Nick, let's roll!" I shouted, picking up an AK-47 while Rochelle and Nick picked up more rounds for their rifles. Walking up the stairs, I stumbled slightly, clutching my stomach and causing Nick to stop.

"Hey, you alright kid?" He gripped my shoulder with a concerned look on his face. A large shiver went down my spine then, his touch warming my shoulder very quickly. I turned around, pushing his hand away.

"Yeah, I'm cool…" I smiled awkwardly, receiving a questioning look on Nick's face. Coach ran up the stairs then, carrying a medium red t-shirt and chucked it towards me.

"I picked it up a couple of miles back," he smiled, motioning to my shirt, "you really need to put more clothes on!"

I laughed, thanking him and switching shirts quickly before heading off. Opening the door slowly, I looked around. There were no zombies, but the amount of rubbish suggested that there had been people recently. Wrappers for fast food, food from the store and plastic bags littered the area. The road was hardly visible, apart from the few cars that had space underneath them. A door with a hatch on the front was to the right, and when I knocked on the hatch, it opened twice.

"Alright guys, this must be where the Cola has to go. Has anyone got a plan?" I looked around at the boys, their faces deep with thought. Ellis piped up then.

"Why don't y'all grab the Cola stuff and we'll guard the entrance in case them zombies show up again." Ellis bounced on his feet as he spoke, hands behind his back like a child, looking proud. We all looked at each other and nodded, agreeing with the idea. Motioning to Nick and Rochelle, I starting walking towards the store before checking the coast was clear. Walking down the stairs, I looked down the AK-47's scope and pointed it in all directions. Waving a hand to the others, they walked in front of me, making their way through the piles of rubbish towards the store. As we neared the entrance, we stood for a moment. Motioning to Nick, he opened the door slowly, but caused an alarm to go off inside.

"Aw, shit! This is all he need! Come on, we have to hurry now!" He shouted angrily, running past the doors and into the store. Rochelle and I ran after him, looking back to Coach and Ellis standing with their guns ready. In and out of the isles we weaved, passing flour and chocolate, toilet paper, even old teddy bears. Most of the shelves were empty by now, which wasn't a surprise. Why would people leave good stuff for everyone else to take after all? At the end of the store stood a large shelving unit, stocked to the brim with fizzy drinks of all kinds… all but Cola.

"Fuck! Where the hell is the Cola!?" Nick swiped his gun in the air, running to the back room in hopes of spare stock. Rochelle followed, and I was about to do the same, before I heard a spine-tingling laugh. Nick and Rochelle stopped in their tracks, turning slowly towards the sound. Around the corner came a small zombie on all fours. It had a largely arched back, and it's head was too small for it's body. White and blue shorts hung loosely from it's backside, short muscular legs following below it. It looked around at the walls, before darting it's eyes towards us. They were made of hollow darkness, and went deep into my soul, causing a shiver that wasn't good. I hesitated for a minute, before screaming out as loud as I could.

"RUN FOR IT!" We ran into the back room, slamming the door shut forcefully behind us. The zombie bounced into the door, knocking us back and causing Rochelle to fall to the ground. As Nick and I held the door, she moved backwards towards the wall with a terrified look on her face.

"WHAT IS THAT THING?!" She screamed, her voice cracking slightly.

"I don't know, but I think we should call it a Jockey. It certainly runs like a high-school moron…" I nodded my head, laughing at my great name once again. Nick rolled his eyes.

"Great, the twelve-year-old over here has yet another doggy! You wanna go outside and rub its belly?" Nick chuckled, nudging me softly. Slapping his face playfully, I shook my head at his stupidity and looked away. But when I looked back to him, I swear I caught some look in his eye; something I'd never seen before. He looked charming, with a chiseled face and sharp jawline. Strong eyes of blue popped out of his lightly tan face, and a round, pointed nose sat perfectly in the centre of all the amazement. I'd never seen his face in such a way, and before I knew it, that perfect face began leaning towards mine…

"Ahem…" Rochelle cleared her throat, causing both of us to move backwards and play with our hands. We all then looked at each other as the Jockey pushed through the door and laughed an evil laugh, jumping all over, trying to grab us.

"Shit, run!" I shouted, running out the door and towards the entrance of the store. Nick, Rochelle and the Jockey followed closely behind, puffing hard and fast. Weaving in and out of the isles, we made it out the door and tried to shut it before the Jockey could make it outside, but it narrowly slipped through, jumping onto Coach's head. He began pulling him towards a large horde of zombies that had heard the commotion.

"Get this thing off me!" He wheezed, attempting to pull it off his head. The Jockey only gripped tighter and giggled as he pulled Coach further away from the team. But the Jockey's face turned to blood and skin as Ellis popped its head full of Hunting Rifle lead.

"Alright! Nice shot man!" I high-fived Ellis and fist pumped the air in joy. As the rest of the team shot rounds through the rest of the zombie and Coach caught his breath, my face turned to horror.

"Dammit the Cola! We have to go back." I groaned, turning around and bumping into Rochelle with a six-pack of Cola in her hands. I grinned and hugged her quickly, thanking her over and over.

"Well someone had to do it, you two were too busy about to eat each others faces!" She laughed, pointing to Nick and I. Nick turned and blushed a little, hiding his face by shooting zombies once again. I shrugged my shoulders and said sorry to Rochelle before grabbing the Cola from her arms.

"Hey Ellis," I shouted, throwing the carton to him once he turned around, "It's delivery time!" He winked to me and began to run, leaving the shooting up to us. We dropped zombies here and there, turning left and right while following Ellis up through the car park and up the stairs once again. Running around the corner, Ellis knocked on the door once again, and when it opened, he dropped the Cola in and ran through the door to the gun store. "Hurry guys, y'all get in here!"

As we got inside, we all squatted and covered our ears, waiting for the truck to explode. And surely enough, with a loud BOOM! The truck was gone, followed by the concrete barriers, most of the rubbish which caught fire and, lucky for us, our horde of zombies. We all cheered, and while Coach, Ellis and Rochelle high-fived each other, I smiled at Nick and punched his shoulder playfully.

"You did good in there. Without you, we probably would've taken longer. You were so determined to get Cola." I laughed, holding my knees for support. He chuckled and nudged my shoulder with a small sparkle in his eyes, causing me to catch my breath. As we finished our celebrations, we went out the door one by one, all but Ellis. He took one more glance at all the guns and said a small goodbye before following us out the door.

Walking over the broken concrete scattered on the road, Nick caught up to me and rubbed the back of his head nervously before clearing his throat.

"Uh hey, how you doing?" He spoke shyly, moving his hands to his pockets.

"I'm doing okay. Thank god that horde wasn't any bigger, we could've been in some trouble." I laughed, smoothing the back of my jeans.

"Yeah. So about what happened back there…"

"Never happened." I shook my head with a grin.

"Never?" He moved his hands to his chest, crossing them.

"Never!" I smiled like a small child. "But… we can try again later." I winked at him, causing him to blush. But with a little bit of confidence, he moved his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer.

"Sounds good to me kid."

As we kept walking, a low growling noise filled the air. It came from each direction, making the noise hard to pin-point.

"The hell is that?" Ellis scratched his head, turning the corner to the safe room. As we were further behind, we took a little longer to follow him. But we picked up the pace when an ear-piercing scream filled the air…


End file.
